Author's Note
[Actress Yoon Yeo-jeong] I'm not good at studying, but I did my homework.
[Japanese lawyer Tsutomu Nishinaka] My luck is connected to the luck of others.
[Designer Nora Noh] You need to leave at least 10% of your ability and stamina.
[Animal behaviorist Choi Jae-cheon] Be a little afraid and a little cowardly.
[Cooking Blogger Jeong Seong-gi] I Have No Regrets Living with My Mother with Dementia for Nine Years
[Actor Lee Soon-jae] A good life is one that lives as if it were a loss.
[Japan-based political scientist Kang Sang-jung] Your "time" will surely come.
[Violinist Kyung-Hwa Chung] I'm no longer dissatisfied with my imperfections.
[Japanese designer Kenya Hara] "If this is enough, it's enough."
[Painter Noh Eun-nim, living in Germany] Just accept it, like the weather.
[Entrepreneur and Pastor Ha Hyung-rok] The moment I sacrifice, people change.
[Art historian Yoo Hong-jun] The knowledge gained through study must be shared with others.
[Poet Lee Seong-bok] When things don't work out, you have to turn off the engine.
[Pyeongchang Olympics Opening and Closing Ceremony Director Song Seung-hwan] If you pursue fun, you won't experience a slump.
[Philosopher Kim Hyeong-seok] The core of character is sincerity.
[Geriatrician Mark E.
Williams] We don't get that old

16 adults still active, with an average age of 72

Beginning in July 2015, the online media outlet [Chosun Biz] began publishing interviews every Saturday, overwhelming in length, depth, and character, with philosopher Kim Yong-ok, composer Jin Eun-sook, designer Alessandro Mendini, and architect Winy Maas.
This corner, called [Kim Ji-soo's Interstellar], has accumulated over 120 interviews over the past three years.
The average number of characters per interview is 10,000, which is equivalent to 50 pages of 200-character manuscript paper.

Despite the length, this interview series has been published through social media with 2,200 interviews with Youn Yuh-jung, Mark E.
Williams' interview was shared 4,300 times, Song Seung-hwan's interview 2,600 times, Hara Kenya's interview 2,100 times, and Lee Soon-jae's interview 2,400 times, and they were widely loved in the online world.
As of November 2018, the page views of [Kim Ji-soo's Interstellar] on the [Chosun Biz] website reached 1.7 million.

Which interviews have garnered attention over the past three years? Among the over 2,000 interviews shared on social media, many involved interviewees over 60 years old.
They have mostly been working in their fields for over 30 years, which gives them sharp insight into life and work.
This book, “Philosophers of Your Life,” contains 16 interviews with these very people.
These are the lives of 16 people who are still active, with an average age of 72.


Artists, entrepreneurs, philosophers, scientists, religious figures, bloggers… …
Five Similarities Between Adults of Different Occupations

《Philosophers of Your Life》 contains the voices of energetic adults from various professions of our time, including artists, entrepreneurs, philosophers, scientists, religious figures, and bloggers.
Although their occupations were different, when I collected the interviews in one book, I found that they had something in common.


1.
I think I can work well even when I'm older.
2.
Work moderately without exhausting yourself
3.
We pursue coexistence rather than competition.
4.
Listen to what other people say
5.
Be humble

These five commonalities, which could be seen as ordinary lessons in some ways, gain weight through the chemistry of 16 people including Yunjin Kim, Tsutomu Nishinaka, Nora Noh, Jaecheon Choi, and Seonggi Jeong.
Anyone can say that, but not everyone can live that way.


The words they told us were not empty, for life was the proof.
The lives they lived resonated deeply because the time they lived was proof of that.
- [Author's Note]

For example, actress Yun Yeo-jeong says, “I may not be good at studying, but I did my homework” (page 19), sharing her philosophy on life that she could not help but try because she knew she was lacking.
Kang Sang-jung, a political scientist living in Japan, said that he gained great insight from a passage in the Old Testament, “There is a time for everything,” during his youth. He interpreted the passage as meaning, “I will live diligently in the ‘now,’ the ‘here,’ and wait for the ‘time,’” and said that he was glad that the ‘time’ would surely come (p. 124).
These are words that go in the opposite direction of today's world, where people ridicule themselves or others who work hard by using the word 'no effort'.

Violinist Kyung-Hwa Chung, who has the image of a perfectionist, says, “The important thing is that I wasn’t dissatisfied with my imperfections” (p. 139) and “I’m grateful that I can play” (p. 147).
Kenya Hara, head of design at Muji, a global company handling over 7,000 products, emphasizes, “This is enough” (p. 162).
You can go further, but it's important to draw the line at that point with some giving up.
World-renowned animal behaviorist Jae-Cheon Choi shares the results of over 30 years of observations of animals that have evolved throughout history.
“It’s difficult to run alone, but if we run together, we can slowly move forward.” (Page 75) These are words that give us a breath of fresh air, as we have become accustomed to the struggle for survival.


We give strength and encouragement to the philosophers of our own lives.

Author Kim Ji-su has been a journalist for 23 years.
[Chosun Biz] If you include his previous experience at the fashion magazine [Vogue], the number of interviews he has conducted reaches hundreds.
I have already interviewed many of the interviewees in “Philosophers of Your Life” several times.

I've met Norano three times so far.

In my mid-70s, early 80s, and then in my 90s.
(syncopation)
I also want to work happily for a long time like Mrs. Nora Noh.
If I know my vessel, don't let my ambitions get the better of me, and reserve 10 percent of my energy,
I hope to interview Mrs. Nora Noh again when she turns 100.

- [Designer Norano: You have to leave at least 10% of your ability and stamina]

Reporter Kim Ji-soo, still active as a woman in her late 40s, interviewees in their 60s and 70s... ...even at an age some consider too old to be enjoying their work.
These interviews, born from the process of their paths intersecting multiple times, are perhaps inevitable.
In that sense, "Philosophers of One's Life" is the result of a meeting of people who have demonstrated their abilities in their respective fields for a long time, based on mutual trust.
As I read “Philosophers of My Life,” the voices and expressions of the 16 people vividly come to mind.
This makes reading books much easier, but writing these interview articles requires a great deal of skill.


If we consider why these interviews were particularly beloved among the 120 interviews, we can infer what kind of life readers want to live.
A life of long working lives, a life of good health even in old age, a life where each day is joyful.
This is the life we ​​want.
In a world where we deal with an aging society and where the younger generation is expected to shoulder the burden of the older generation, and where this is predicted to be a social failure, it is comforting to see adults, with an average age of 72, living the lives we desire.
As our contemporaries, it makes us realize anew that we already have adults we like and who inspire us.
It also makes us realize how precious our own lives are, just as they cherished theirs for a long time.
"The Philosophers of Your Own Life" is a book that provides strength and encouragement to us, the philosophers of our own lives, who strive for our own lives without being obsessed with competing with others.


“You haven’t even lived half your life yet.
So, trust me.”
- 92-year-old active designer Nora Noh